Sanitising Jihad and soft-pedalling terror: How ‘The Hindu’ whitewashed JeM terrorists after the Delhi Red Fort attack

The nation remains in the throes of the aftermath of the Delhi terror attack, which transpired near Red Fort, on the evening of 10th November. It took the lives of 15 people and left numerous others injured. Umar un Nabi, a doctor from Pulwama was revealed to be the suicide bomber. The assault was executed after security agencies discovered around 2900 kilogram of explosive material, assault rifles and other ammunition as well as dismantled an interstate Jaish-e-Mohammed module, involving Kashmiri doctors and the Indian chief of Jamaat ul-Mominaat, the women’s division of the terrorist group, among other perpetrators.

As the security agencies diligently investigate the extent of this terror network and uncover alarming details, the usual suspects have reverted to their customary role of trying to undermine the gravity of the incident and those implicated in it. The left-liberal “Hindu Group” appears to be leading the way, as it has persistently refrained from calling “a spade a spade” even after more than two weeks following the terror strike.

On 27th November, a Friday sermon by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the Chairman of the Hurriyat Conference, was highlighted by the English daily, which propagated the narrative of Muslim victimhood. The article collectively criticised the media for sensationalism, security forces for their alleged excesses including destruction of homes belonging to terrorists, while also expressing concern over the “alienation” of Jammu and Kashmir due to the abrogation of Article 370.

Nevertheless, the piece conveniently neglected to address the root cause of the issue, which is the radicalisation of the youth in the valley and their participation in terrorist acts. It predictably tried every measure to shift blame and deny accountability where it was warranted. On the contrary, the article condemned the state for its efforts to avert further loss of life, the media for reporting the truth and the Modi government for amending a historical wrong.

On 26th November, a similar piece was published by the “Frontline” outlet of “The Hindu Group,” reinforcing the agenda of victimhood with allegations of profiling against Kashmiri employees and “troubling” suspicion regarding this community who has been living, working or studying in other regions of the country.

It claimed that Kashmiri students were facing harassment and lamented that even tenants were asking them to vacate their rented accommodations. Moreover, the true likelihood of terror threat in the nation and accompanying fear were termed as “anti-Kashmiri and anti-Muslim rhetoric.”

The focus was similarly on attributing blame to the Indian state and its populace while painting Kashmiris as subjects of intimidation, discrimination and even oppression. As anticipated, the author avoided to discuss the extremist background of Kashmir, the involvement of its people in terror outfits alongside the terrorist activities committed by them. The article held India responsible but did not specify who should be blamed for this fatal obsession with jihad.

Casting aspersions, sanitising terrorists

On one hand, “The Hindu Group” has repeatedly attempted to distract from the actual issue of Islamism and its lethal consequences by promoting a manufactured narrative of victimhood and on the other hand, it has been subtly trying to whitewash terrorists despite the overwhelming evidence.

Furthermore, the term “accused” had been repeatedly applied to the terrorists associated with the JeM module, including Umar, whose involvement in executing the terror attack has been established beyond any doubt.

On 27th November, a report was issued about Soyab who harboured Dr Umar-Un-Nabi. He was taken into custody from his residence in Faridabad, marking the seventh arrest in the Delhi blast case. The media house not only termed Umar’s partner in crime as just a man but also portrayed the former as an accused and even used quotations to label him as a terrorist, as if it were merely an outrageous accusation rather than the truth.

The reality is that his DNA found at the blast site and a video of him praising suicide bombing recently came to light, in addition to ample evidence of his involvement in the attack.

On 24th November, the media organisation, while covering the condemnation of the terror attack by Doctors Association of Kashmir (DAK) and Doctors Association Jammu (DAJ), used allegedly to cast doubt on the prominent role of the Kashmiri terrorists in the blast.

On 20th November, it released a report concerning the arrest of the primary minds associated with the Delhi blast by NIA and put quotes to signify the terror module solely to question the veracity of the charges and the evidence revealed by the investigative bodies.

Dr Muzammil Shakeel Ganai from Pulwama, Dr Adeel Ahmed Rather from Anantnag and Mufti Irfan Ahmad Wagay from Shopian, along with the Indian supremo of Jamaat ul-Mominaat, Dr Shaheen Saeed from Lucknow, were simply referred to as accused. The serious statements made by the NIA concerning their participation were also denoted with allegedly with an intention to diminish the gravity of the wicked act.

On 19th November, the media outlet reported on the arrest of Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, the chairman of the Al Falah Group, who was charged with money laundering. However, the publication similarly employed quotes to refer to the terror module and employed the word allegedly to downplay the validity of the proof that clearly pointed to the involvement of the three doctors of the institution with the JeM network.

On 18th November, “The Hindu” informed that the NIA had secured custody of another Kashmiri terrorist behind the Delhi blast, yet it referred to him as an accused while calling Umar an alleged terrorist, thus continuously undermining the truth about this terrorist network.

On 17th November, the media platform yet again utilised the quotes in relation to the suicide bomber even after it was confirmed that Umar was indeed behind the wheel and detonated the bomb, resulting in the deaths of more than a dozen innocent individuals. Ironically, the report was on the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) confirmation that the unfortunate occurrence was, in fact, a “car-borne suicide attack.”

On 15th November, it reported on how the “accused doctors” lost their license due to the Delhi blast, as if they were not actually JeM terrorists responsible for the strike and demonstrated a relentless effort to avoid using the accurate term for these sinister elements.

On 14th November, the media house simply stated, “two more held for Delhi blast,” in a report in what appeared to be an effort to obscure the accused’s real identities from the headline. The Hindu did not even bother to specify whether the individuals were men or women, thereby maintaining complete opacity.

A report by “The Hindu” was released on the same day after Umar’s house was demolished, declaring him as just an accused rather than a terrorist and the architect of the Red Fort explosion alongside Mirwaiz Farooq’s emotional appeal to manipulate the sentiments of the readers.

How to be apologists of Islamic terroism: A leftist-liberal playbook

The leftist-liberal group has a peculiar tendency to amplify trivial matters related to the Hindu community while trying minimise and sanitise jihad, Islamic terrorism and the individuals connected to it. This was recently observed when The Wire nearly exonerated these Kashmiri terrorists in its article.

“The Hindu” likewise seems intent on diluting their role by employing the terms “accused,” “allegedly” or using quotation marks in its articles and even granting space to radical separatists from the valley. The usage of the words alleged, allegedly and accused is another strategy to sustain an environment of doubt concerning the strong evidence discovered by the security agencies.

This playbook is not only implemented in India but also across the globe, including by international media houses. The main objective is to sway the reader with sob stories or to present the terrorists as victims of state oppression or an unjust system that forced them to resort to violence and kill innocents.

The shameless whitewashing never stops and has only escalated over time with the propagation of planted narratives and propaganda that favour the enemies of India and Hindus, while the government and security agencies working to prevent such attacks are characterised as villains.

All entities are held accountable except for jihad or the extremists responsible for the attacks, while a false narrative of Muslim victimhood is spread following each incident to exert pressure on the government and agencies, hindering them from fulfilling their responsibilities.